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Isaiah 14

KJV · Chapter 14/66

1For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob.

2And the people shall take them, and bring them to their place: and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the Lord for servants and handmaids: and they shall take them captives, whose captives they were; and they shall rule over their oppressors.

3And it shall come to pass in the day that the Lord shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve,

4That thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased!

5The Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked, and the sceptre of the rulers.

6He who smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke, he that ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted, and none hindereth.

7The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet: they break forth into singing.

8Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, Since thou art laid down, no feller is come up against us.

9Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming: it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations.

10All they shall speak and say unto thee, Art thou also become weak as we? art thou become like unto us?

11Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee.

12How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!

13For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:

14I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.

15Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.

16They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms;

17That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners?

18All the kings of the nations, even all of them, lie in glory, every one in his own house.

19But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and as the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a carcase trodden under feet.

20Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land, and slain thy people: the seed of evildoers shall never be renowned.

21Prepare slaughter for his children for the iniquity of their fathers; that they do not rise, nor possess the land, nor fill the face of the world with cities.

22For I will rise up against them, saith the Lord of hosts, and cut off from Babylon the name, and remnant, and son, and nephew, saith the Lord.

23I will also make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of water: and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith the Lord of hosts.

24The Lord of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand:

25That I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot: then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders.

26This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth: and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations.

27For the Lord of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? and his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?

28In the year that king Ahaz died was this burden.

29Rejoice not thou, whole Palestina, because the rod of him that smote thee is broken: for out of the serpent’s root shall come forth a cockatrice, and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent.

30And the firstborn of the poor shall feed, and the needy shall lie down in safety: and I will kill thy root with famine, and he shall slay thy remnant.

31Howl, O gate; cry, O city; thou, whole Palestina, art dissolved: for there shall come from the north a smoke, and none shall be alone in his appointed times.

32What shall one then answer the messengers of the nation? That the Lord hath founded Zion, and the poor of his people shall trust in it.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

After promising Israel's return from exile, Isaiah delivers a poetic taunt against the king of Babylon, compared to a 'morning star' fallen from the heavens because of pride. The chapter also brings brief prophecies against Assyria and Philistia.

Explanation

The poem about the 'king of Babylon' uses exaggerated, mythological language common in Ancient Near Eastern poetry to mock the arrogance of a ruler who considered himself nearly divine, saying, 'I will ascend into heaven... I will be like the Most High.' Later traditions, both Jewish and Christian, associated this figure with the fall of Satan, though the original text primarily speaks of a proud human king. The central idea is that every power that exalts itself against God will be brought down, no matter how glorious it appears. The practical application today is that pride, even on a small everyday scale, always precedes some kind of fall.

Fun facts

  • The Latin expression for 'morning star' in this passage is 'Lucifer,' a word that later tradition would use as a proper name for the devil, although in the original Hebrew text it simply describes the planet Venus seen at dawn.
  • The chapter also predicts the fall of Philistia, saying that 'out of the serpent's root will come forth a viper' — a poetic way of saying that past threats would give way to worse ones, probably referring to the rise of Assyria.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Isaiah 14:1After Babylon’s judgment, the focus shifts to restoration: God will have compassion on Jacob and choose Israel again, bringing the people back to their own land, with foreigners joining them.
  2. Isaiah 14:2The nations themselves will help bring Israel back home, and the situation reverses: those who once enslaved Israel will now be ruled by them — a complete reversal of power.
  3. Isaiah 14:3Describes the moment when God finally gives Israel rest from the hard labor, the fear, and the harsh slavery they suffered — the introduction to the taunt song against the king of Babylon that follows.
  4. Isaiah 14:4This “proverb” against the king of Babylon is a taunt-poem, a genre common at the time for celebrating a tyrant’s downfall. It even imagines the cedars of Lebanon and the dead in the realm of the dead reacting to the news.
  5. Isaiah 14:5God has already broken the “staff of the wicked” and the “sceptre of the rulers” — language of royal power being destroyed, referring to the end of Babylon’s oppressive rule.
  6. Isaiah 14:6Describes who this oppressor was: someone who struck the peoples with unceasing fury and ruled the nations in anger, but who is now pursued with no one to stop it — the fall of the powerful tyrant.
  7. Isaiah 14:7With the oppressor’s fall, the whole earth finally rests and falls silent — a general relief expressed in shouts of joy after so much suffering.
  8. Isaiah 14:8Even the personified trees, the fir trees and the cedars of Lebanon, celebrate the tyrant’s fall, saying that now no one will come up to cut them down — the king of Babylon is pictured as a woodcutter who exploited even nature.
  9. Isaiah 14:9The realm of the dead stirs to receive the fallen king, waking the spirits of dead kings and raising them from their thrones to meet him — an imaginative scene of poetic mockery.
  10. Isaiah 14:10These dead kings speak to the newcomer, saying that he too has become weak like them, just like everyone who has ever died — the equality of death mocking the tyrant’s former greatness.
  11. Isaiah 14:11His pride went down with him to the realm of the dead, along with the sound of his festive instruments, and now worms take the place of the luxury he once had — an image of total decay, from throne to worms.
  12. Isaiah 14:12The image of a star falling from the sky, the morning star, is poetic mockery of the Babylonian king’s fall, from the height of power to the depths of the pit. The later Latin translation named this star Lucifer, and different traditions have read this verse quite differently through the centuries.
  13. Isaiah 14:13The expressions “mount of the congregation” and “sides of the north” draw on a regional mythological image of a sacred mountain of the gods in the far north. The text uses this familiar reference to describe the Babylonian king’s boundless ambition to make himself equal to God Himself.
  14. Isaiah 14:14Continues the arrogant speech of the king quoted in the previous verse: he wanted to rise above the clouds and make himself like the Most High — the height of ambition described just before the fall is revealed.
  15. Isaiah 14:15But the result is the opposite of what he wanted: instead of rising to the heavens, he goes down to the realm of the dead, to the depths of the pit — the most dramatic fall possible after so much ambition.
  16. Isaiah 14:16Whoever sees the fallen king’s body is astonished and asks whether this is really the man who made the earth tremble and the kingdoms shake — disbelief at seeing so powerful a tyrant reduced to nothing.
  17. Isaiah 14:17Continues the astonished question: was this the man who turned the world into a desert, destroyed cities, and never released his prisoners to go home?
  18. Isaiah 14:18An important contrast: all the other kings of the nations were buried with honor, each in his own tomb — a dignified funeral, which this particular king will not have, as the next verse shows.
  19. Isaiah 14:19Unlike the other kings, he is thrown far from his tomb, compared to a rejected branch or a trampled corpse of war — the denial of a dignified burial as a final humiliation.
  20. Isaiah 14:20He will not even be buried among the other kings, because he destroyed his own land and killed his own people — this tyrant’s descendants will be blotted out from memory forever.
  21. Isaiah 14:21Orders that his sons be killed because of their father’s wickedness, so that this line will not rise again and go on to dominate the world with more conquered cities.
  22. Isaiah 14:22God personally promises to rise up against this dynasty, wiping out Babylon’s name, descendants, offspring, and posterity — a complete erasure of the royal line.
  23. Isaiah 14:23Continues the promise: Babylon will become the property of owls and pools of standing water, swept away with the “besom of destruction” — from imperial capital to abandoned swamp.
  24. Isaiah 14:24God swears that everything will happen exactly as He planned, with no possibility of change — reinforcing the absolute certainty of the prophecies against Babylon and, in the passage that follows, against Assyria.
  25. Isaiah 14:25The promise extends also to Assyria: it will be destroyed on God’s own land, relieving the people of the yoke and burden they carried under that empire.
  26. Isaiah 14:26Sums up that this plan of destruction is not just for Babylon or Assyria, but for the whole earth — the “hand that is stretched out” of God reaches every nation, not only Judah’s immediate enemies.
  27. Isaiah 14:27A final rhetorical question about this determination: if the LORD of hosts has decided, who can undo it? His hand is stretched out, and no one can make it turn back.
  28. Isaiah 14:28A time marker: this specific oracle, against Philistia, took place in the year King Ahaz died, giving the announcement that follows a precise historical context.
  29. Isaiah 14:29This oracle against Philistia probably celebrates the death of a king who oppressed them, perhaps Ahaz or some Assyrian king. But it warns that the relief will be short-lived, because a worse threat still lies ahead.
  30. Isaiah 14:30Promises that the poorest of Judah will finally eat and rest in safety, while the “root” of Philistia, its descendants, will die of famine — safety on one side, destruction on the other.
  31. Isaiah 14:31Calls all of Philistia to wail, because a threat comes from the north like smoke, and not one soldier will be missing from the ranks of this invading army — probably a future Assyrian or Babylonian assault.
  32. Isaiah 14:32Ends the oracle with a question about what to answer the foreign messengers: the answer is that the LORD founded Zion, and it is there that the oppressed of His people can find safe refuge.

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